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Friday, 31 May 2013

The
Israeli military has moved resources and personnel up to the border
with Lebanon, installing a barbed wire fence near the occupied Shebaa
Farms area on Jabal Al-Shaikh (Mount Hermon). According to a Lebanese
security source in Beirut, the Israelis have also sent pilotless
drones as well as manned aircraft over Southern Lebanon, including
the Beqaa Valley.

The
source added that several artillery shells were fired from the
eastern edge of the occupied Shebaa Farms. No casualties were
reported.

American,
British Citizens Killed In Syria

First
a big caveat: the
following comes
from CNN,
the world's farce leader, so take it with a quarry of salt.

That
said, CNN's household access is pervasive and when it comes to
setting the social mood based on a news report, be it completely
fabricated or not, the news organization is second to none. Which may
be precisely why it is CNN that is reporting that in Syria - a place
just itching for the proverbial match to be struck on a mountain of
geopolitical gunpowder involving all the key actors: from the US, to
Russia, Europe, China, and of course Israel, said match may have just
been lit.

To
wit: "Syrian
state-run television reported Thursday that forces loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad killed three Westerners, including an American woman
and a British national, who they claim were fighting with the rebels
and were found with weapons and maps of government military
facilities."

Syrian
TV identified the woman, releasing what it claimed were her Michigan
driver's license and U.S. passport. It also released what is said was
the name and passport of a British citizen. It did not identify the
third Westerner.

The
TV report claimed the three were also found with a flag of the
al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-linked group.

The
United States is aware of the claim that an American was killed and
is working through the Czech Republic mission in Syria to obtain more
information, a State Department official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told CNN.

Citing
privacy considerations, "we are unable to comment further,"
the official said."

Why
westerners were fighting the Syrian government alongside Al Qaeda
"rebels" is not known. What is known is that tomorrow front
pages across the nation will be blasting "American woman killed
in Syria" and the ensuing thirst for revenge will be just the
missing link needed by the administration, in lieu of having found no
weapons of mass destruction, to escalate the conflict even further.

Especially when the media helpfully reminds that as we reported
earlier, Russia
has already deliveredat
least one of the promised S-300 missile shipments to Assad. All the
other details: those involving the true nature of the Qatari
mercenaries posing as "rebels", the Al Qaeda links, the
source of rebel armaments, the UN refutation of the WMD storyine, and
most importantly, any mention of the Qatari
gas pipeline access to Turkey which this is all about,
will be ignored.

Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks on the sidelines of the Friends of
Syria Conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday. The
international event was attended by representatives from around 40
countries with the aim of contributing to a political solution to the
foreign-sponsored crisis in the Arab country.

“We
will not allow the Syrian government to be overthrown. We strongly
support the Syrian nation and government as well as the opposition
that believes in a political resolution,” he added.

Amir-Abdollahian
added that Iran will utilize its experiences in the region to prevent
the collapse of the Syrian government.

Regarding
Iran’s participation in a forthcoming international conference on
Syria in Geneva, the Iranian diplomat said the Islamic Republic has
been verbally invited to the meeting, but not in writing.

He
said Iran will make a final decision on taking part in the conference
after receiving a written invitation, adding, "During diplomatic
talks, we have announced that because the focus of the Geneva
conference is finding a political solution, we will consider any such
invitation with a positive attitude."

On
May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an
international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to
an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012. Russia has highlighted
the need for Iran's presence in the forthcoming meeting.

Iran
has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign intervention
in Syria's internal affairs, stressing that inclusive dialog and
national reconciliation as well as free elections are the keys to
resolving the unrest in the Arab country.

The
crisis has gripped Syria since March 2011, and many people, including
large numbers of Syrian security forces, have been killed in the
unrest.

No idea what the Arabic commentary is saying, but I can vouch for the Russian.Call for Russian volunteers to fight in support of Assad"50,000 volunteers from Russia and Ukraine heading
to Syria in supports of Assad"

The
French Labor Ministry says the number of unemployed people reached a
record high of 3.26 million in April.

The
ministry said on Thursday that the number of registered jobseekers in
the eurozone's second-largest economy increased by 39,800 last month,
marking the 24th consecutive monthly rise.

The
increase is equivalent to 1,326 new jobseekers per day and
represented a 12.5 percent rise over a year ago.

The
previous jobless record in the country was in January 1997, when
3.195 million people were unemployed.

The
figures are considered as a major challenge for Socialist President
Francois Hollande, who has pledged to curb the unemployment rate from
the current level of more than 10 percent to a single-digit figure by
December this year.

Hollande's
popularity, which had already been affected by the poor performance
of the economy, is shrinking to record lows. In March, only 30
percent of the 1,000 people surveyed by the polling company TNS
Sofres said they were satisfied with the president, down from the 35
percent recorded the previous month.

Europe
plunged into a financial crisis in early 2008. The worsening debt
crisis has forced the EU governments to adopt harsh austerity
measures and tough economic reforms.

Yemen
is demanding $20 million from the US to build a rehab center for
former Guantanamo detainees that would be extradited to the country.
The facility would be designed to prevent them from returning to
militant activities.

Last
week President Barack Obama announced the US’s readiness to lift up
ban on repatriating Yemeni nationals from Guantanamo Bay top security
prison.

Sanaa
has put a price tag on the issue, asking Washington and the Gulf
capitals to fund construction of a rehabilitation center that will
potentially soothe the pains of former extremists and disincline them
from armed violence.

"The
detainees will be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society,”
state news agency Saba quoted Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi as saying. On Tuesday, Hadi shared his views with the US Senator
John McCain who is touring the Middle East.

Yemen’s
Human Rights Minister Houriah Mashhour told Reuters that the
government approved the plan, but needs funding, from $18 to $20
million to bring the project into life.

"The
[financial] support that the United States would offer to Yemen in
this regard will not be more than what it is [currently] spending to
maintain Guantanamo prison," Mashhour evaluated in an interview
on Wednesday.

She
also addressed wealthy Arab states of the Persian Gulf, which
promoted the power transfer in Yemen in 2011 and helped to stop
months-long political instability in Yemen, to sponsor the rehab
project.

A
large number, if not the majority of the Guantanamo detainees are
from Yemen.

Among
the 86 Gitmo prisoners already cleared for transfer or release are 56
Yemeni nationals. The next 80 detainees awaiting clearance for
transfer have unaccounted for number of Yemenis as well. Many of them
are among the 100+ Gitmo prisoners who are on hunger strike, which
began sometime in February, demanding to be let out.

Most
of them were detained over a decade ago, following the 9/11 terror
acts in the US and the American invasion to Afghanistan.

Washington
stopped repatriating Yemeni nationals from Guantanamo prison in 2010,
following the 2009 incident of an attempted US-bound plane blast. A
man who attempted to bring explosives aboard in his underwear had
been trained by Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen.

Yemen
is one of the most impoverished countries in the Arabian Peninsula,
which definitely helps Al-Qaeda cells, which traditionally recruit
new members among poverty-stricken population.

The
Arab Spring protests in 2011 hit low-lived Yemen particularly hard,
putting the country on the verge of a civil war. In the end President
Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted and replaced with his subordinate Hadi.

Though
the situation in Yemen has largely stabilized since then, the
Islamist insurgency together with Al-Qaeda are still targeting
governmental facilities and troops in regular attacks and explosions.

Welcome
home

Because
of the extended US security concerns Mashhour does not expect the
repatriation process to start before the end of 2013. While many of
the Guantanamo prisoners were returned to the countries of origin,
dozens of Yemeni nationals are still awaiting their fate in Gitmo.

Mashhour
stressed Yemen’s government is not going to put such people on
trial because "had there been any evidence against them, the
United States would have put them on trial," she told Reuters.

So
Yemeni authorities are going to concentrate their efforts on
rehabilitating the former detainees, Mashhour said, stressing that
most of the 21 inmates repatriated before the 2010 ban have managed
to return to normal life. She personally talked to some of them, she
revealed, and shared that some are employed by Yemeni companies.

As
for those who opted to get back to militants, “very few did” the
minister said, specifying she has no “precise information” on
them.

Mashhour
pointed out that “rehabilitating [former Gitmo inmates] is an issue
that is not exclusively a Yemeni issue. Saudi Arabia has a similar
program which Guantanamo inmates have been put through.”

She
named poverty and unemployment as the main reasons for people joining
extremists, therefore new jobs for the former militants returning to
normal life is crucial.

Turkish
security forces found a 2kg cylinder with sarin gas after searching
the homes of Syrian militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front
who were previously detained, Turkish media reports. The gas was
reportedly going to be used in a bomb.

The
sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamists
detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia following a
search by Turkish police on Wednesday, reports say. The gas was
allegedly going to be used to carry out an attack in the southern
Turkish city of Adana.

On
Monday, Turkish special anti-terror forces arrested 12 suspected
members of the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliated group which
has been dubbed "the most aggressive and successful arm” of
the Syrian rebels. The group was designated a terrorist organization
by the United States in December.

Police
also reportedly found a cache of weapons, documents and digital data
which will be reviewed by police.

Following
the searches, five of those detained were released following medical
examinations at the Forensic Medicine Institution Adana. Seven
suspects remain in custody. Turkish authorities are yet to comment on
the arrests.

In
a separate incident in Adana, police reportedly received intelligence
that an explosive-laden vehicle had entered the town of Adana on
Thursday, the Taraf daily reports.

Ankara
has attempted to bolster the Syrian opposition without becoming
embroiled in the Syrian civil war, a policy which Damascus claims
lead to the deadliest act of terrorism on Turkish soil.

On
May 11, 51 people were killed and 140 injured after two
car bombs
exploded in the Turkish town of Reyhanlı, located near the country’s
border with Syria.A dozen Turkish nationals have been charged in the
twin bombings, and Ankara has accused
Damascus
of helping the suspects carry out the attack.

"This
incident was carried out by an organization which is in close contact
to pro-regime groups in Syria and I say this very clearly, with the
Syrian Mukhabarat [intelligence agency],"
Interior Minister Muammer Guler said.

Syria’s
Information Minister Omran Zoubi denied any link the attack, saying
his country "did not commit and would never commit such an act
because our values would not allow that".Zoubi further charged
the Turkish government had facilitated the flow of arms, explosives,
funds and fighters across the country’s border into Syria, claiming
that that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party
bear direct responsibility [for the attack]."

Reports
of chemical weapons use by both Damascus and the Syrian opposition
have surrounded the conflict in Syria for months.

In
March, the Syrian government invited the United Nations to
investigate possible chemical weapons use in the Khan al-Assal area
of rural Aleppo. Military experts and officials said a chemical
agent, most likely sarin, was used in the attack which killed 26
people, including government forces.

Damascus
claimed Al-Qaeda linked fighters were behind
the attack,
further alleging Turkey had a hand in the incident.

“The
rocket came from a placed controlled by the terrorist and which is
located close to the Turkish territory. One can assume that the
weapon came from Turkey,”
Zoabi said in an interview with Interfax news agency.

US
President Barack Obama has
warned
any confirmed use of chemical weapons by Damascus would cross a "red
line"
which would prompt further action. Both Washington and London claimed
there was growing evidence that such chemical agents had been used.

A
day before the Reyhanlı bombing, Erdogan released a statement
claiming he had evidence the Syrian government had had used chemical
weapons, crossing the red line set by President Obama.The accusation
contradicted a statement made at the time by a leading UN
investigator.Carla Del Ponte, who heads

The
Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said there
were “concrete suspicions
but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas”
in Syria.

"This
was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the
government authorities,"
Del Ponte continued.

Exposure
to large quantities of sarin gas, whose production and stockpiling
was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, causes
convulsions, paralysis, loss of respiratory functions and potentially
death.

In
an interview with a Lebanese TV channel, he said there was "popular
pressure" to open a military front against Israel in the Golan
Heights.

He
also suggested Syria may have received the first shipment of an
advanced Russian air defence system.

Israel
has warned it would regard the Russian missiles as a serious threat
to its security.

Mr
al-Assad was speaking to al-Manar TV, which has close ties to the
Lebanese Shia militant movement Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian
government.

Israel
has carried out three air strikes on Syria to stop the transfer of
advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"There
is clear popular pressure to open a new front of resistance in the
Golan," Mr Assad said.

Israel
has occupied the Golan Heights since the 1967 war. It annexed the
territory in 1981, in a move that has not been recognised by the
international community.

Syrian
shells have hit Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, though it is
unclear whether they were aimed at rebels in border areas, and Israel
has returned fire.

Syria
and Israel have been in a state of war since 1948 but the border had
been relatively calm in recent years.

Russian
contracts

Excerpts
released from the al-Manar interview ahead of broadcast quoted Mr
Assad as saying Syria had already received a first shipment of S-300
missiles from Russia.

But
in the interview itself, he said only: "All we have agreed on
with Russia will be implemented and some of it has been implemented
recently, and we and the Russians continue to implement these
contracts."

The
S-300 is a highly capable surface-to-air missile system that, as well
as targeting aircraft, also has the capacity to engage ballistic
missiles.

Ahead
of the interview, Israeli government minister Silvan Shalom said
Israel would "take actions" to ensure that advanced weapons
did not reach groups such as Hezbollah, but there was no need to
"provoke an escalation".

He
told public radio: "Syria has had strategic weapons for years,
but the problem arises when these arms fall into other hands and
could be used against us. In that case, we would have to act."

The
military chief of the main umbrella group of Syrian rebels, the Free
Syrian Army, has accused Hezbollah fighters of "invading"
Syria.

In
a BBC interview, Gen Selim Idriss claimed that more than 7,000
Hezbollah fighters were taking part in attacks on the rebel-held town
of Qusair.

More
than 50,000 residents were trapped in the town and a "massacre"
would occur if it fell, he added.

Talks
about talks

Mr
Assad also said Syria would "in principle" attend a peace
conference backed by the US and Russia, if there were not
unacceptable preconditions.

The
main opposition group outside Syria said it would not join the talks
while massacres continued.

Its
interim leader, George Sabra, said talk of diplomatic conferences was
farcical while Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah were
carrying out heinous crimes.

The
opposition has been meeting for more than a week in Istanbul to elect
new leaders and devise a strategy.

For
his part, Mr Assad said it would not be surprising if the conference
failed, and if it did, it would not make much difference on the
ground, because what he called the "terrorism" of the
rebels would continue.

Russian,
US and UN officials will meet next week in Geneva to prepare for the
proposed conference in June.

MOSCOW,
May 30 (RIA Novosti) – Reports that Syria’s president had
confirmed receiving a consignment of Russian-manufactured S-300 air
defense systems emerged Thursday, but were quickly brought into
question.

In
comments widely reported across the world, Lebanese newspaper Al
Akhbar quoted Syrian President Bashar Assad as saying Damascus had
received initial deliveries of the S-300 system.

Assad's
remarks were allegedly made during a pre-recorded interview to be
aired on Hezbollah-controlled Almanar television channel on Thursday
evening at 10:00 p.m. Moscow time.

But
a high-level source at Lebanon-based Almanar, who said he had been
present throughout the interview, told RIA Novosti by telephone that
at no point did Assad explicitly confirm any S-300 deliveries.

When
Assad was asked about the delivery of the anti-missile systems, the
source – who requested that his name not be printed – said, the
Syrian president replied that “everything we have agreed with
Russia will be implemented, and a part of it has been implemented
already.”

By
Thursday afternoon, the Al Akhbar newspaper, which reported Assad's
comments as an exclusive, appeared to backtrack on the veracity of
its story, which also included a statement attributed to Assad that
the rest of the S-300 equipment "will arrive soon."

The
Assad quotes were "professionally stolen" through sources
at Almanar and any information provided by the television station is
more reliable, an Al Akhbar employee told RIA Novosti in a telephone
interview, also requesting anonymity.

Documents
revealing the existence of an agreement between Russia and Syria to
supply the sophisticated S-300 air defense system, which can target
ballistic missiles as well as aircraft, were first reported in the
Russian press in 2011, but official confirmations have been scant.
However, earlier this week Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov
mentioned the deal’s existence, according to Russian media, saying
a contract for providing Syria with S-300s had been signed “several
years ago.”

Reached
by telephone Thursday, Russian state-owned arms exporter
Rosoboronexport declined to comment on whether elements of the S-300
system had been successfully delivered to Syria.

The
shipment of the S-300s is a source of contention between Moscow and
Washington. Last week US Secretary of State John Kerry said the
presence of the anti-missile systems in Syria would be
“destabilizing” for the region.

Russian
officials publicly refuse to confirm or deny the S-300 deliveries,
but argue that they would be legal under international law and would
help to contain the Syrian conflict.

Steps
such as the delivery of S-300s are restraining some "hot heads"
from turning the Syrian conflict into an international conflict with
the participation of outside forces, Ryabkov said Tuesday.

S-300
missile systems, which are capable of simultaneously tracking up to
100 targets while engaging 12 at a range of up to 200 kilometers and
a height of up to 27 kilometers, could dramatically raise the risks
of a potential airstrike against Syrian targets.

Israeli
jets have reportedly launched attacks on Syria, including the capital
Damascus, several times this year. Tel Aviv said recent strikes in
May were targeted at weapons being transferred to Hezbollah in
Lebanon, according to Western news agencies.

A
Turkish riot policeman uses tear gas as people protest against the
destruction of trees in a park brought about by a pedestrian project,
in Taksim Square in central Istanbul May 28, 2013. REUTERS/Osman
Orsal

Protesters
are occupying Istanbul's Gezi Park to prevent a demolition of what
many are calling the city's last green public space. Hurriyet Daily
News reported
that early Thursday morning riot police set fire to several tents and
used tear gas and pepper spray attempting to force activists out of
the park. Activists are calling
on thousands more to rejoin the protest.

The
demonstrators occupied
the park on May 28 to prevent bulldozers from completing the
demolition, part of the government's redevelopment plan for central
Taksim Square.

Unconfirmed
reports suggest more than 10,000 people are currently gathered in
Taksim's Gezi Park. ....

Goldman
Sachs and UBS will lead a syndicate of banks collecting about £30m
from the £3bn privatisation of Royal Mail.

The
government announced that it had selected Goldman Sachs, which has
been accused of treating its clients like "muppets", and
UBS, which was fined £940m for its role in the Libor rate rigging
scandal, as global co-ordinators and bookrunners of the largest
privatisation in two decades.

As
the lead banks advising on Royal Mail's sale the pair will collect
the majority of the fees, understood to be set at about 1% of the
target £2-3bn flotation value. Barclays and Bank of America Merrill
Lynch will also collect millions in fees from more junior roles in
the sale.

The
department for business, innovation and skills (BIS), which is in
charge of the sale, refused to state how much the banks will collect
in fees but said it had "negotiated very hard to get the best
value for taxpayers". Banks can collect up to 2.5% for running
flotations.

A
BIS spokesman said the banks had been selected because of their past
experience advising the government on Royal Mail and declined to
comment on the banks' roles in recent scandals.

Goldman
Sachs hit the headlines last year when one of its British-based
bankers resigned in a letter in which he accused his former employer
of being "morally bankrupt" and routinely ripping off its
"muppet" clients in order to increase its profits

Michael
Fallon, the business minister, said the banks' appointments "build
momentum" for the sale, which he hopes to complete within a
year. Fallon said a float in London, in which staff would be granted
shares worth 10% of the company, was still the government's
"preferred option" but insisted no final decisions had been
made and other sale options "remain on the table".

He
has warned the Communication Workers Union (CWU) that the world's
oldest postal service could be sold to sovereign wealth funds or
other foreign buyers if the CWU continues to fight a flotation.

Moya
Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail, has taken the company on an
investor roadshow in Canada and the US and said it would be
"foolhardy" not consider the sale of the company to foreign
buyers.

If
the flotation is successful it will be the biggest privatisation
since the sell-off of the railways in the 1990s and Royal Mail will
enter the FTSE 100 list of Britain's biggest companies.

Royal
Mail last week reported a 60% increase in pre-tax annual profits to
£324m. Sales, which were boosted by a 30% rise in the price of first
class stamps to 60p, increased by more than £500m to £9.3bn.

Hundreds
of thousands of pounds have been spent on a Fermanagh facelift as the
county prepares for the G8 summit
in just under three weeks’ time, but locals complain the work paid
for by the local council and the Stormont Executive is little more
than skin deep.

More
than 100 properties within range of the sumptuous Lough
Erne resort
which hosts the world’s wealthiest leaders, have been tidied up,
painted or power-hosed.

However,
locals say the makeover only serves to hide a deeper malaise which US
president Barack Obama, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French
president François Hollande and others will not get to see.

Two
shops in Belcoo,
right on the border with Blacklion,
Co Cavan,
have been painted over to appear as thriving businesses. The reality,
as in other parts of the county, is rather more stark.

Just
a few weeks ago, Flanagan’s – a former butcher’s and vegetable
shop in the neat village – was cleaned and repainted with bespoke
images of a thriving business placed in the windows. Any G8 delegate
passing on the way to discuss global capitalism would easily be
fooled into thinking that all is well with the free-market system in
Fermanagh. But, the facts are different.

Jim
Sheridan,
director of Belcoo Enterprises Limited, welcomes any attempt to tidy
the area but laments the wrecking effects recession and the demise of
the Celtic Tiger
have had locally.

“That
work happened just a few weeks ago,” he said. “The council got
that place painted but it went under sometime last year. A lot of
people round here worked in construction and that work has gone
now.”Picture
business

The
butcher’s business has been replaced by a picture of a butcher’s
business. Across the road is a similar tale. A small business
premises has been made to look like an office supplies store. It used
to be a pharmacy, now relocated on the village main street.

Elsewhere
in Fermanagh, billboard-sized pictures of the gorgeous scenery have
been located to mask the occasional stark and abandoned building site
or other eyesore.

All
is paid for by so-called dereliction funding. About £300,000 was
made available by the Department of the Environment and the
Department for Social Development. A second round of funding is
expected. Late last year the council wrote to the owners of
properties in need of a facelift seeking permission for the work. The
scheme was put together with the greatest haste to make sure the
properties, mostly in Enniskillen itself, were authorised for
improvements.

Council
chief executive Brendan
Hegarty said
at the time the initiative was “a phenomenal opportunity”.

“We
want to present the county as best as we can and promote it in terms
of industry and tourism,” he said.Spruce-up

The
short-term beneficiaries were local builders and painters who were
called in for the spruce-up. Even Enniskillen’s Clinton Centre,
opened by the former US president on the site of the IRA Poppy Day
bombing, has been given a cream makeover.

For
one local Assembly member, the cash injection is welcome but is no
substitute for the investment the area needs.

Phil
Flanagan,
a relative of the former owner of Belcoo’s butcher shop, says:
“I’ve never seen painters as busy”.

“I’ve
no problem with that, but some people are putting out the idea that
there’s no such a thing as a closed-down business in Fermanagh . .
. It’s a huge lie and a false economy.”